Just brought a house and the owners before me Smoke and i just can't get the smell out. Any Advice? Thanks.
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Yes I am a smoker. I don't smoke in the house but I did work for a cleaning crew for the military. We had to wash down all the walls if we could tell some one smoked in the house. We used warm water in a bucket with a cap full of bleach. Use old rags. For the hard to reach places use a sponge mop. If you take small bowles of backing soda and leave them around the house it takes some of the oder out of the house. You can also sprinkle backing soda on the carpets when you leave to go some where and vacuum it up when you get home. There are also sprays out right now that gets rid of cigarette smoke. Good luck.
Looking at a repaint. Everywhere. Ceilings down. With latex paint, add a couple of drops of vanilla extract to the paint before applying it. Will aid in hiding the smoke smell. Or use Febreze unstead of vanilla extract. Works the same.
This is not gonna be what you want to hear so:try candles, opening all windows, opeate all exhaust fans, use air feshener. Sanitize all ductwork,change air filter, clean air conditioner a coil and blower moter, wash walls, prime walls, re[paint walls (try a sealer first), replace carpet
Wash all the walls or repaint. All the wood work needs to be washed as smoke sticks to it. Window cleaner gets smoke off really good. It won't hurt the wood. Wash carpets to.
Hi Darlene: PLEASE don't do all those things others are telling you... make it easy on yourself and pick up the phone and call your local Health Department and they will give you the information - or call the Red Cross and ask for the Stop Smoking or whatever it is called, these people can tell you "exactly" what to do. I would think that the last people you would ask would be home decorating companies or paint companies, for they would surely get you to buy their products. Depending on the type of smokers they were, cigars are the worse. If the house has a lot of wood, you can clean the wood with "Lemon Oil" it will take ALL the nicotine and dirt and leave a wonderful aroma. Good old PinSol is great for the floors - (not wood) - and the tiles. For wood - you can use the "Lemon Oil" - just follow the instructions. It's too bad that you didn't include the clearing of the "smoke" issue on your "contract to buy" - you could have you know! Maybe you have a clause, check out your "Offer to Purchase" or call your Lawyer. I am quite sure that a "standard clause" is included in all "offers" that the premises must by "pest/odour" free. Good Luck, and if not, you will have great muscles after all that cleaning - have a "paint party" and hand everyone a bucket - LOL - but a house warming party with a bunch of friends, a pot luck, and some fun and it can all get done in a week-end! Hope this helps you out - and Congratulations on the most important asset you will ever own, your HOME!
Rent a rug doctor and shampoo all carpets, repainting the walls will help or you can wash them down I use pinesol to wash my walls down. However I would rather repaint than wash walls, but then I like to paint! Wash all woodwork and open the windows if you can, clean kitchen cabinets with murphys oil soap, and buff well then apply Orange Glo for wood cabinets, this stuff works wonders.
Replace furnace filters and leave windows open when you can and get some good cross ventelation going thru the house. You should notice a big difference just by doing these things which you could hire professionally done by services that go in after a house fire and clean up, but you can do it yourself cheaper just take your time and don't let it over whelm you. Also wash or clean all drapes if you kept the drapes the prior owners had. You can also place bowls of charcoal around the house in corners and behind furniture and it will absorb odors...Good Luck
My husband owns a ServiceMaster and they have a machine called an "ozone". If they put the machine in the house and shut all the doors it LITERALLY sucks out all the smell/scent in the house. Of course, no one (not even pets) can be in the house while the Ozone is working because it would suffocate you. But it REALLY works. I've seen it done several times, including in a friends home of ours.
Check your Yellow Pages and see if there is a ServiceMaster near you and ask if they have an Ozone machine. If there is not a ServiceMaster around, try any kind of restoration business that might have this kind of equipment. It might save you a TON of work!
look, you can try all the things that have been posted or you can get a few 5 gallon buckets of killz from your local home depot or Lowe's, some fans and respirators, and go to town! get drop clothes, rollers, handles, brushes, tape, paper( for windows and the like) oh yeah let me say again fans (ventilation is a must) and some good friends. killz is just what it says... it killz smoke and mold. i used to use it as a subcontractor before i joined the military for fire restoration and flood jobs. it has a money back guarantee. the lemon oil and a pinch of newts blood stuff the others were saying is bull. get killz and do it right the first time. oh and cook out for your friends... food helps every time, lol.
You will have to wipe everything down and probably repaint the entire house. Wish it was easier.
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